The Htc 7 Pro Is A Versatile Qwerty Smartphone

By Author: Chris Westley
Total Articles: 168
Comment this article

Windows Phone 7 is out and several producers were releasing devices matching the operating system’s needs, but none more so than HTC. Their 7 Pro is one of the latest to arrive, seemingly pitched at the business user with a physical keyboard attached.

With the new operating system, Microsoft has set a very strict set of hardware requirements for those suppliers willing to deliver the goods with WP7. So you have a 3.6-inch capacitive WVGA touchscreen propelled by a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU augmented by 576 Mbytes of RAM, 512 Mbytes of ROM plus 8GB of user storage space for your convenience. It boasts a microUSB and a 3.5 mm jack socket, Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi b/g/n and both dual band HSPA and quad band GSM. You’ll have your GPS, an accelerometer, a compass, proximity and light sensors, a removable battery, but no microSD slot. You can shoot pictures with a 5 Megapixel camera with autofocus and a LED flash able to shoot 720p video. So the device is quite well kitted out but weighs a surprising 187g.

The most of the excess weight is there due to the slide-out physical keyboard snapping into place, and angling the screen ...
... with a solid flip. It has five rows, and unlike Windows Mobile, it has no app-specific keys, and also, it features an emoticon key instead of @ next to space. In other ways, it is well usable, accurate and quick.

When we switch it on, we meet WP7 for the first time. The OS took a serious step, and instead of copycatting iOS, it took a new aspect with the dynamically changing tiles, the Hubs (be they Music + Videos, People, Pictures, Games, Office or Marketplace). Each segment is scrollable showing different kinds and levels of information. With this, using People Hub, after logging on to Facebook, you can see recent updates which you can flip through or comment, or you can go further to see your address book brought together from your phonebook, Gmail, Facebook account, Exchange or other services available. Contacts of your choice may be brought to the main screen as live tiles, giving you instant notification of any updates of said contacts.

The camera solid still pictures. Its app loads up quickly, and it does record HD video at a whim. It is great to see this addition despite the phone being seemingly aimed at the business user; it also makes a great phone for those who take their photography a little more seriously.

One of the most important questions when using a smartphone is battery life. Well, a fully loaded 1500mAh battery powers this device and with constant Gmail updates, moderate social media usage, camera, and browsing, it lasts for a full day without a problem.

All in all, there is a lot to like about this device from the hardware to the software. There is also great potential to download third party apps and Microsoft Marketplace, so this is a device which has all bases covered, resulting in an impressive user experience.

Check out the best HTC 7 Pro deals and HTC 7 Mozart deals